£15,000 for woman in cricket sex bias case

A woman turned down for a top job at a cricket club yesterday won £15,000 compensation following her successful sex discrimination case.

A woman turned down for a top job at a cricket club yesterday won £15,000 compensation following her successful sex discrimination case.

Maria Grant, 45, of Blackburn, Lancashire, brought the legal action after she failed to make the shortlist for a post at Lancashire Cricket Club after a selection committee favoured a man with an undergraduate degree rather than Miss Grant, who is studying for a doctorate.

The employment tribunal in Manchester found she had been discriminated against on the grounds of her sex and approved the compensation, which was settled between the parties.

Announcing the panel's decision, chairman Peter Russell said the people who decided the shortlist for the job had used subjective criteria which led to the discrimination.

He said the club had admitted Miss Grant was marked down because some of the traditional elements in Lancashire would not want meetings chaired by a woman. Headded that some people would resent a woman chairing a committee and disciplining them.

Following the decision Ms Grant said: "I'm absolutely delighted. It's been a long 12 months preparing and fighting for this case but it's been well worth it. I hope other women interested in careers in sports administration will come across fewer barriers in the future."